A 75-year-old Erie man accused of harassing two cyclists along County Line Road in September by following them and honking his SUV's horn for several minutes was sentenced to 12 months probation as part of a plea deal with prosecutors today.

James Ernst pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment -- a Class 3 misdemeanor -- and two counts of improper use of a horn -- a traffic offense. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped two counts of driving too slowly. Ernst also will be required to undergo anger management and do community service.

Ernst -- who was representing himself in the case -- had the plea deal worked out Feb. 14, but Judge Noel Blum rejected it in order to make sure the victims in the case had been notified. While he briefly argued with Blum over the definition of harassment -- which Ernst called "vague" -- Ernst ultimately submitted the guilty plea.

Prosecutor Madoche Jean said the victims actually had been notified previously and that a prosecutor sitting in for him on the case last week did not know that.

In September, two cyclists recorded a video of Ernst driving his SUV behind them on County Line Road while honking his horn. The men put the video on YouTube, and it quickly went viral and got thousands of views and comments. The Colorado State Patrol investigated the video, tracked the SUV to Ernst, and ticketed him.

"Obviously the facts are very concerning," Jean said to Blum. "(Ernst) has to understand that cyclists have a right to the road as well."

Ernst told Blum that he was "basically a good guy," and that he simply did not want to cross over the yellow line to get around the cyclists even as they continually signaled for him to do so on the video.

"The road is a double yellow line, uphill for a long ways and it's very narrow with no paved shoulder," Ernst said. "It's really not safe for bicyclists."

While Blum said he would not take into account the comments on the YouTube video, he said the facts he did have concerned him.

"What's been presented to me does present a very dangerous situation on what you've described as a very narrow road," Blum said. "The issue isn't whether the bicyclists could have taken other action or not, if they're riding where they're supposed to be, you have to be patient and certainly can't be leaning on your horn."

After the hearing, Ernst declined to comment on the case, simply saying, "Congratulations."

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